For our second post in the series ‘Neat and over Gläce’, I took advantage of an invitation to dine with my good friends, Kevin and Karyn. The informal setting consisted of the collaborative preparation of Kevin’s rib-eye steaks, Karyn’s mushroom and red wine reduction, and my bringing of a bottle of Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva (Exclusive Reserve) which I blindly chose as I left my house. I would later discover this to be the perfect diplomatic trifecta. As we prepared our modest feast on one of the last days of summer evenings, I briefly shared with Kevin and Karyn my intentions of having them experience Diplomático first ‘neat’ and later, over a Gläce Mariko sphere. I would take notes and later share their thoughts here with you. A little about Diplomático: Fittingly, Ron Diplomático begins the product description by talking about “sugar cane honeys”. Initially I thought these ‘honeys’ were a special part of the sugar cane, but I discovered that it is simply the way Diplomático chooses to describe and differentiate their spirit from the traditional ‘sugar cane’ starting point of most rums. As we would soon discover with our first sip of Diplomático from a brandy snifter, honeys is the perfect way to begin describing the Ron Diplomático experience. Kevin said: “This, I would come home and sip after work” Karyn’s thoughts were: “incredibly smooth, warm heat but no bite!” Ron Diplomático’s color in the snifter is of caramel and amber, reminiscent of a cognac with a sweet and inviting nose. Burying your nose deep into the snifter allows you to take in even more aroma yet it remains balanced and unobtrusive. The steaks were grilled to a medium / medium-rare and while they were allowed to rest, we embarked on the second portion of our tasting and draped 2oz of Diplomático over a single Mariko sphere resting atop a stemmed glass. This unorthodox serving was ideal in continuing with the spirit of Diplomático; following their juxtaposing of styles and tastes in order to find compromise in diplomacy. Diplomático’s message is one of bringing opposing viewpoints to the middle to share in a drink of their rum, but I assure you, there’s nothing average or middle of the road about this rum. The approach and nose from the open-top glass did the job in diffusing the aroma and scent present in the earlier nosing. This second approach was “almost neutral” said Karyn with the vanilla notes being accentuated. The finish was much shorter over Gläce Ice, with the feeling from Karyn that ‘the shorter finish is ideal for a feminine palate’. Kevin noted that neat allowed for a slower enjoyment, but ‘over Gläce Ice the drinking is much faster’! We sat down in the summer evening to enjoy our simple feast and chatted long into the night about all things life, liquor and love while smoking cigars and sipping on a snifter of Ron Diplomático to counterbalance the preamble of Fall in the cooling night.